boulle

[bool]

noun (often initial capital letter) Furniture.

buhl.

Also called boulle·work

[bool-wurk] /ˈbulˌwɜrk/.

buhl

or boule, boulle

[bool]

noun (often initial capital letter)

elaborate inlaid work of woods, metals, tortoiseshell, ivory, etc.

Origin of buhl

1815–25; from Germanized form of French boulle or boule, named after A. C. Boulle or Boule (1642–1732), French cabinetmaker

Also called buhl·work

[bool-wurk] /ˈbulˌwɜrk/, boulework, boullework.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for boulle

Historical Examples of boulle

With this work the name of Boulle is indissolubly associated.
Intarsia and Marquetry
F. Hamilton Jackson
Buhl, or Boulle, is inlaid work with tortoise-shell or metals in arabesques or cartouches.
The Old Furniture Book
N. Hudson Moore
Boulle was given an apartment in the Louvre and for his great master the celebrated bniste composed his choicest work.
The Old Furniture Book
N. Hudson Moore
When there are only two slices of material the technical term for them is Boulle and Counter.
Intarsia and Marquetry
F. Hamilton Jackson
Collecting was to Boulle a mania of which, says his friend, it was impossible to cure him.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 3
Various

British Dictionary definitions for boulle

boulle

boule or buhl

adjective

denoting or relating to a type of marquetry of patterned inlays of brass and tortoiseshell, occasionally with other metals such as pewter, much used on French furniture from the 17th century

noun

Also called: boullework something ornamented with such marquetry

Word Origin for boulle

C18: named after André Charles Boulle (1642–1732), French cabinet-maker

buhl

adjective, noun

the usual US spelling of boulle

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012